The owner of a designated former 1870 school house gutted by fire last August is seeking permission from the city’s heritage advisory committee to demolish what remains of the structure.
The home, at 4800 Fountain St. at the corner of Riverbank Drive, was left a smouldering ruin on Aug. 24 after an early-morning fire gutted the structure
The blaze completely destroyed a newer south section and heavily damaged the north section, leaving only the walls remaining. The roof was completely consumed by flames.
Since the walls are unstable and could collapse at any time, the city is recommending demolition move ahead.
The property had been the subject of attempts to protect its heritage value over the last year.
The city invoked its property standards bylaw in January to order the owner repair the vacant home's exterior walls to prevent moisture from entering the building.
In March, the owner was ordered to repair the roof and shore the walls of the rear addition to stabilize them.
A report being tabled at Thursday's municipal heritage advisory committee meeting states previous owners made unapproved alterations to the property, including creating a large opening in the foundation for a garage and removing a load-bearing wall.
At the time of the fire, the owner was working to repair the roof, which had been leaking near the fireplace.
Two assessments of what remained after the fire, one done by a firm hired by the owner in September, and one by an engineering consultant hired by the city came to the same conclusion — “the structure cannot be salvaged and should be demolished completely, including the foundation.”
Potential for reusing the materials in a new structure was also ruled out in a further report prepared by an architect hired by the owner. That report outlined how the windows had been damaged beyond repair and the fieldstones on the exterior wall can’t be salvaged since high heat compromised their structural stability.
The building was designated by the city in 1980. It served as a rural school from 1870 until 1962.
The existing structure replaced an earlier wood-frame school built around 1865 but the property is believed to have been used as a school since 1832.
The designation describes the property as “significant for both its design value and its associative value” and is considered “a rare example of a rural, stone school and highlights the multi-coloured granite construction, twelve paned double sash windows surrounded by an elliptical fan light and red brick radiating voussoirs as attributes.”
In the early '70s, the building was the headquarters for the Waterloo Region Library and later became a water quality testing lab before being purchased by private owners and converted for residential use.
The owner has agreed to save as much of the fieldstone as possible and will update the city on its use in a commemorative structure somewhere on the property once plans are in place to rebuild.
